Combination of electrical lock system and fire alarm system



COMBINATION OF ELECTRICAL LOCK SYSTEM AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEM Filed May 25, 1967 A ril 21, 1970 KAZUO SUGIYAMA 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lOl ' April 2-1, 1910 Filed May 25, 1967 COMBINATION ELEG'IRICAL'LOGK SYSTEM AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 25 1 HF? r I! N l 26 ll! 11 :1 I v 36 v I I 34 29 I l I 28 l'fi 3 ""z a i I KAZUO SIJGIYAMA 3,508,233-

United States Patent O 3,508,233 COMBINATION OF ELECTRICAL LOCK SYSTEM AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEM Kazuo Sugiyama, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Heiwa Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Kawasaki-shi, Japan Filed May 25, 1967, Ser. No. 641,316 Claims priority, application Japan, June 3, 1966, 41/ 35,408 Int. Cl. G08b 17/00; Hlh 47/ 04 U.S. Cl. 340222 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination of electrical locks, especially those of doors for emergency exits, and a fire alarm system. When a fire breaks out, such normally closed locks are simultaneously unlocked by the actuation of the fire alarm system which is functionally connected to a control device for the locks. Each lock can be selectively locked or unlocked by operating the control device. Also, the simultaneous locking and unlocking of all the locks can be effected as occasion demands.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In community buildings or other large buildings, there are provided a multiplicity of emergency exits, other than the entrances of usual use. These emergency exits are usually closed and locked. However, the locks for such exists must be unlocked rapidly all together should a fire break out. If such a number of emergency exits are unlocked one after another by hand, it takes a considerable length of time which cannot be' permitted in such an emergency. Should the unlocking of any of the emergency exits be forgotten, this could prove fatal for persons who are trying to escape from such exits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, electrical locks are adopted for all doors, and are unlocked all together in an emergency, such as a fire, by means of a control or operating device operatively combined with a fire alarm system. At ordinary times, each of these locks can 'be unlocked selectively.

The main object of this invention is to provide a combination of an electrical lock system and a fire alarm system, which comprises a plurality of electrical locks arranged in doors of a building, especially those for emergency exits, and controlled by an operating device, a fire alarm device operatively and electrically connected to said operating device for effecting the simultaneous unlocking of all the doors when the fire alarm system is actuated by fire.

Other objects and features will be made clear from the following description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of this invention, wherein FIGURE 1 is a cirucuit diagram thereof, and FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of an electrical lock to be used with this operating device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The reference numerals 1 1 show electrical locks for doors. As shown in FIGURE 2 the electrical lock 1 has an L-shaped iron armature 26 which is pivoted by a shaft 28 for allowing the attraction by an electromagnet 2 having a core 25. The armature is urged in the clockwise direction by a spring 29. The other end 27 of the L-shaped armature abuts against a bolt 30 for re- 'ice straining the retracting movement of the bolt 30 by a weak spring 31.

A movable contact 32 which is positioned in opposition to a fixed contact 34 controls the conduction of the current of the electromagnet by contacting and separating from, the fixed contact according to the opening and closing movement of the door.

Reference numerals 35 and 36 show terminals for the electromagnet.

FIG. 2 shows the lock in locked position, wherein the movable contact 32 is retracted by the closing of the door, energizing the spring 33, and becomes engaged with the fixed contact 34. When the lock is unlocked, direct current exceeding a predetermined value is conducted between the terminals 35 and 36. Then, the electromagnet 2 is magnetized, and the I-shaped armature 26 is attracted thereto. This attraction results in the counter-clockwise rotation of the armature about the axis of the shaft 28 against the force of the spring 29, and the other end 27 moves to release the engagement with the bolt 30, allowing the retraction of the bolt 30 by the force of the weak spring 31. Thus, the lock is unlocked.

The L-shaped armature once attracted to the core 25 is in an intimate contact with the core, it remains in this position owing to the coercive force created in the core 25 even after the current is cut, thereby the unlocked condition is continued.

When'the thus unlocked lock is again locked, alternating current is applied between the terminals 35 and 36. By such conduction of alternating current, the core 25 will be de-magnetized and the coercive force will disappear. Accordingly, the armature 26 will be rotated in the clockwise direction by the force of the spring 29, the other end 27 pushing out and holding the bolt 30. Thus the locking operation is finished.

The electrical lock 1 or 1 as mentioned in the above is mounted on each door, and terminals of the electromagnets 2 2 are connected by wires to an operating device 23 positioned in a room. The operating device 23 has three power sources, each grounded. The first one is a direct current source which has a battery 5, a secondary coil 18 of a transformer 6 whose primary coil is an alternating current source 17 for charging the battery 5, and a rectifier 19. The second is a low voltage direct current source comprising another secondary coil 20 of the transformer 6, a rectifier 21, and a condenser 22. The third is an alternating current source formed by the secondary coil 18.

Terminals opposing the above-mentioned ground terminals of the electromagnets of the electrical locks 1 1 are respectively connected to switches 3 3 In the respective switch 3 there are three contacts 3a, 3b, 3c, the contact 3a being an unlocking contact to be applied by the voltage of the direct current source of the battery 5, 30 being a locking contact to be applied by the alternating current from the secondary coil 18, and 3b being a neutral contact for maintaining the unlocked condition when the switch is shifted from the unlocking contact 3a and for maintaining the locked condition when the switch is shifted from the locking contact 30. The switch is always set on this neutral position except during the period of switching. The neutral contact 3b is connected through respective pilot lamps 4 4 to the low voltage direct current source composed of the secondary coil 20', the rectifier 21, and the condenser 22. This source is of a low voltage type merely sufficient for operating the pilot lamps 4 4 and does not actuate the armature 26 which is in the locked position apart from the core 25 since the magnetic force produced by the current flowing through the electromagnet 2 is weak. In the operating device 23, there is provided a relay 7 to be conducted by the direct current from the direct current source 5. The circuit of the relay 7 is connected to a fire alarm 11 which is actuated by a number of fire detectors 10 arranged in the building outside of the lock operating device 23. The circuit is closed by the actuation of any of the fire detectors. The relay 7 comprises a contact 7 for connecting a relay 8 to the direct current source 5 in parallel with the relay 7, a contact 7 for self-holding the relay 7, a contact 7 for connecting an alarm lamp 13 and a buzzer 14 to the secondary coil 20, and a contact 7., for cutting the low voltage direct current source which is composed of the secondary coil 20, the rectifier 21 and the condenser 22 and is to be applied to the contact 3b. On the other hand, the relay 8 has contacts 8' 8 for connecting the contacts 3 b, 3 b to an emergency condenser 9 which is normally charged, and a contact 80 for opening the circuit for charging the condenser 9.

In these emergency circuits, there are also provided a simultaneous unlocking contact 15 which is arranged in parallel with the contact that is closed by the fire alarm device and normally opened but closed by pushing operation, a simultaneous locking contact 16, which is arranged in the self-holding circuit of the relay 7 and is normally closed but opened by pushing operation, and a contact 16 of the emergency condenser circuit, which is associated with the simultaneous closing contact 16 and normally closed but opened by pushing operation.

Now the function of the device of this invention will be specifically explained.

It is assumed that the relays 7 and 8 are in inoperative condition since the simultaneous unlocking contact 15 is in the normally open condition and the fire alarm device 11 is in the inoperative condition. In this condition, and

each door is closed, each of the switches 3 3 are maintained in their neutral contacts 3 b, 3 b respectively. Accordingly, the pilot lamps 4 4 are lightened from the low-voltage direct current source composed of the secondary coil 20, the rectifier 21, and the condenser 22, for indicating the closing of the doors.

In order to bring the electrical lock of a desired door, for example 1 to an unlocked state, the switch 3 is shifted to the unlocked contact 3 a. By this operation, the voltage from the direct current source 5 is applied to the electromagnet 2 and the ,L-shaped armature 26 is attracted by the magnetic force produced by the electromagnet 2 and rotated in the counter-clockwise direction against the force of the spring 29. The other end 27 is therefore freed from the bolt 30 and retracted by the action of the spring 31. Thus the lock 1 is unlocked. Since I the core of the electromagnet 2 is made of a material having relatively large coercive force, the L-shaped amature 26 is maintained in its attracted state, even when the direct current source 5 is cut by returning the switch 3 to the contact 3 b or even when the voltage for the coil 2 is absent by the disengagement of the contacts 32, 34 due to the opening of the door. Therefore, the bolt can be maintained in its unlocked position. After the switch 3 is returned to the neutral contact 3 b, the contacts 32, 34 of the door will be opened and closed according to the opening and closing of the door, for turning on and off the pilot lamp 4 In order to again lock the lock 1 of this door, the switch 3 is shifted to the locking contact 3 0. By this operation, the alternating current from the secondary coil 18 is conducted to the electromagnet 2 and the coercive force remaining in the core 25 is eliminated, thereby the attracting force of the amature is completely lost. Accordingly, the L-shaped amature 26 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the action of the spring 29. Since the other end 27 of the armature 26 pushes the bolt 30 out it holds and locks it at its projected position. After the bolt has once been locked, the L-shaped armature 26 cannot be attracted against the force of the spring 29 even when the switch 3 is shifted to the neutral contact 3 b, or even when the low voltage is applied to the electromagnet from the lamp lightening source composed of the secondary coil 20, the rectifier 21 and the condenser 22. Thusthe locked state is maintained.

Now, it is assumed that a fire broke out under the above-mentioned conditions. The fire is detected by any one of the detectors 10 10 and the contact of the fire alarm device 11 is closed. By the closing of the contact, the relay 7 is actuated and closes the contacts 7 7 7 and opens the contact 7 By the closing of the contact 7 the relay 8 is actuated, and by the closing of the contact 7 the relay 7 is self-held. Also by the closing of the contact 7 the alarm circuit composed of the lamp 13 and the buzzer 14 is closed for actuation thereof. By the openof the contact 7 the low-voltage direct current source which has been connected to the neutral contact 30 is now cut and the pilot lamps 4 4 are turned off. By the action of the relay 8, the contacts 8 8 are closed and the direct current of the emergency condenser 9 is conducted to each of the neutral contacts 3 b, 3 b. At the same time, the charging of the condenser '9 is terminated by the opening of the contact 80. Accordingly, the direct current from the emergency condenser 9 which has been charged in the normal state, flows into all the electromagnets 2 2 for simultaneously withdrawing all the bolts. Thus, all the electrical locks are unlocked for allowing the free opening of the doors.

Furthermore, there is provided the normally-opened simultaneous unlocking contact 15 in parallel to the aforementioned fire alarm device. By manually closing the contact 15 when an emergency is anticipated prior to the detection thereof by the detectors, such as in the case of a fire in the neighborhood or an earthquake, etc., the relays 7, 8 are actuated as in the case of actuation of the fire alarm device, for simultaneously unlocking all the electric locks of the doors.

Also, there is provided a normally-closed simultaneous locking contact 16 in the self-holding circuit of the relay 7, and a switching contact 16 associated with the contact 16 for normally closing the emergency condenser circuit. By pushing the contact 6 the self-holding of the relay 7 is released and the associated contact 16 is also actuated to switch its circuit to the secondary coil 18 for conducting the alternating current to all the neutral contacts 3b. Thus, all the coils 2 of the electrical locks can be simultaneously de-magnetized for simultaneously unlocking the electrical locks. This is very convenient for locking the doors at night after the above-mentioned emergency unlocking has been carried out.

As specifically explained in the above, the present invention provides a device for operating electrical locks mounted on a multiplicity of doors of a building including those of emergency exits, which enables to lock and unlock any one of locks independently of other locks, and also simultaneously unlock all the locks in conjunction with a fire alarm device. Thus the present invention greatly contributes to safety in any occurrence of fire.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, it is illustrated that the lock is unlocked when the armature is attracted to the core by the direct current of a certain voltage above a predetermined value, and is locked when the armature leaves the core by the action of alternating current. However, it will be clear that the lock can be designed to lock when the armature is attracted by the direct current of a certain voltage above a predetermined value, and to unlock when the armature leaves the core by the action of the alternating current.

Of course, this invention should not be construed as being limited by the above-mentioned specific form of embodiment shown and described herein by way of example. The device may be altered or modified within the spirit of the invention.

{What is claimed is:

1. The combination of an electrical lock system and a fire alarm system, which comprises a plurality of electrical locks arranged in doors of a building, an operating device for opening and closing said locks, and a fire alarm device operatively and electrically connected to said operating device for effecting the simultaneous unlocking of all the doors when the fire alarm system is actuated, each of said electrical locks including an electromagnet, a displaceable armature having first and second positions determined by energization and de-energization of said electromagnet and locking means having a locked state or an unlocked state according to the position of said armature, said operating device comprising means for conducting direct current of a certain voltage above a predetermined value to said electromagnet of the electrical lock to displace said armature to one of said positions in which it is attracted to said electromagnet, means for conducting alternating current to said electromagnet to separate said armature therefrom, said armature being maintained in said attracted position when said direct current is cut or a low voltage direct current below a predetermined value is conducted, or in said separated position when said alternating current is cut, threeposition switches for the switching of respective of the electromagnets of said respective locks, said switches including first and second respective contacts for both said means and neutral contacts connected in circuit in said operating device such that no voltage or a low voltage below a predetermined value is applied, and means operatively combined wit-h said fire alarm device for simultaneously connecting said neutral contacts to an unlocking power source.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 269,593 12/1882 Mayrhofer 340-418 X 709,607 9/1902 Podlesak i. 340418 2,197,802 4/1940 James 317134 X 2,469,609 5/1949 IRay 317-156 3,392,380 7/1968 Fordyce 340 220 JOHN W. CALDWELL, Primary Examiner P. PALAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

